It’s probably not a good idea to use your debit card at the gas pump. Not because we have anything against debit cards, but because we’ve learned of yet another group of criminals who planted invisible card skimmers in pay-at-the-pump machines at gas stations in the southern United States. [More]
scams
Scammer Does A Decent Job Of Making Floor Tile Look Like An iPad
By 1.22.14
We’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating: When you’re buying an iPad at a deep discount from a complete stranger off the street, don’t be surprised when you end up with a box of useless junk. And even when that friendly back-alley retailer shows you what appears — through layers of bubble wrap — to be the real deal, be warned that it’s probably just a tarted-up floor tile. [More]
Medical Alert Device Robocalls Scammed $13 Million From Elderly
By 1.13.14
Unwanted robocalls are bad enough. But there’s a special place (not a good place, either) for companies that use robocalls to scam the elderly out of their savings. One Orlando-based operation, accused of scamming $13 million from senior citizens, now has a confirmed reservation in that special place. [More]
Taco Bell Franchisee Doesn’t Tell Social Security About Dead Mom For 23 Years, Collects $200K
By 1.13.14
In the process of dealing with the death of a parent, it might be forgivable if you overlook some paperwork and the Social Security folks send out a benefits check meant for the deceased. But when you deliberately hide this death for two decades while collecting nearly $200,000 that doesn’t belong to you, you’re probably going to jail. [More]
How A Canadian High School Dropout Took Over The Internet With 1 Weird Trick
By 1.3.14
You’re currently using the Internet, so you’ve probably seen them: the banner ads that brag that a [local] mom has discovered “1 weird trick” to flatten her abdomen, earn unlimited cash at home, whiten her teeth, and other miracles. Who was responsible for this scourge that pays the bills for many sites on the Internet? [More]
That Guy On The Phone Offering A Tech Support Refund Is Probably A Scammer
By 1.3.14
We’ve written before about scam artists taking advantage of consumers’ unease with technology to trick them into handing over sensitive personal info, and now there are scammers hoping to prey upon consumers’ general dissatisfaction with customer service and tech support (and their general love of refunds). [More]
Comcast Fails To Stop Scammers From Opening 15 Accounts Using Same Stolen Social Security Number
By 1.2.14
A California woman recently found out she couldn’t open a Comcast account in her name because she owed the cable company a lot of money… even though she’d never been a customer before. She eventually found out that Comcast had allowed people to use her social security number to open up more than a dozen accounts, and then sent a collection agency after her to make her pay for the company’s failure to catch these scammers. [More]
How To Determine If That Comcast Tech At Your Door Is The Real Deal
By 12.20.13
Even in these cynical times, most of us want to trust our fellow humans and try to give them the benefit of a doubt. So when someone from the cable company knocks on your door when you’re not expecting it, your instinct might be to believe that he’s not lying. Sadly, this isn’t always the case. [More]
7 Examples Why You Should Always Check Inside That iPad Box Before You Leave Walmart
By 12.17.13
As most regular readers of the site know, iPad boxes seem to be the perfect fit for scammers who buy the device, take it home, remove it from the box, seal it back up and return it for a refund… only to saddle some unsuspecting future customer with a box full of useless crud later. [More]
Man Says He Was Tricked Into Paying $750 For Photo Of Xbox One On eBay
By 12.6.13
It’s a truism as old as time: Wherever there are people willing to pay a ton of money for a new video game console, there will be scammers willing to take that money and leave them empty-handed. Well, not technically empty-handed in this case, as the customer did get a photo of an Xbox One for his $750. [More]
Phone Scammers Tell Woman They Have Her Dad Hostage (Spoiler: They’re Lying)
By 12.5.13
Phone-based scammers have traditionally employed techniques that either prey upon a victim’s greed — “You’ve won a new car! Just pay the taxes to us now and it’ll be yours” — or protective instincts — “Your grandson is in a hospital in Belarus and needs money ASAP to get treatment” — but these criminals are increasingly using fear to wring cash out of unsuspecting folks. [More]
Deli Owner Accused Of Telling Man He’d Only Won $1,000 In Lottery Instead Of $1M
By 11.25.13
Wherever there’s money to be handed out, there will always be those sharks swimming around just waiting to take what isn’t rightfully theirs. That’s why it’s a good idea to have someone around to help when you win the lottery, in case someone’s waiting to chow down on your bounty. Police say one deli owner and his son tried to snag $999,000 from a lottery winner who’d won $1 million by telling him he only scored $1,000. [More]
If A Stranger Asks For Your Debit Card And PIN Over Instagram, Don’t Mail It To Them
By 11.22.13
Most of our readers are probably savvy enough to know this, but we were all young and innocent once. Like many classic scams, the “crackin’ cards” fraud depends on the victim’s own greed. The pitch? They’ll deposit a check in your account, make a withdrawal, and leave some of the proceeds behind for you. [More]
When 47 States Have Stricter Regulations On Barbers Than On Tax Preparers, Mistakes Are Going To Be Made
By 11.21.13
If you visit a legitimate barber, hairdresser, or cosmetologist in any state in the U.S., that person will have gone through some sort of state-mandated education, testing, and licensing procedure. Yet only three states have any substantive requirements for someone employed as a tax preparer. Not surprisingly, a new report finds that this lack of quality control results in a large amount of errors, fraud, and abuse. [More]
When Tornado Takes Your House But Leaves Your PS4, You’ve Just Gotta Smile
By 11.18.13
It was a horrible weekend for many people in parts of the Midwest who are the victims of devastating tornadoes that destroyed homes and property… but not this guy’s spankin’ new PS4. [More]
California Pulls Plug On 10 Bogus Healthcare Sites
By 11.14.13
Confusion over the Affordable Care Act is already causing more than a few headaches these days. The last thing consumers need is scam websites set up to look like official state exchanges with the purpose of tricking people into turning over their personal information. Today, California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced that her office has shut down 10 sites passing themselves off as the state’s official insurance marketplace. [More]
The Nigerian Prince E-Mail Scam Is Actually 200 Years Old
By 11.6.13
E-mail is an invention of the last few decades, but scamming people? That’s an ancient calling. What you may not know when you toss those advance fee scam e-mails into your spam folder is that the senders are taking part in an old, old scam that dates back to the early 19th century. [More]
Scammer Charged With Renting Out Home She Didn’t Own Six Times In A Few Weeks
By 11.5.13
While we don’t condone scamming in any form, we’ve written enough about inept scammers over the years to pick up a few tips on how to avoid being caught so easily. For example, if you’re going to try to swindle people out of thousands of dollars in bogus rental deposits, don’t get greedy and try to hoodwink six different tenants in just a matter of a few weeks. [More]
